# Can you eat too many bananas ?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2001, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558 "2001-08-22T15:44:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![anenquiringmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anenquiringmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anenquiringmind)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/1 "2001-08-22T15:44:49Z")
I understand bananas are high in potassium so I guess my question is. How much potassium is too much? If you eat 10+ bananas a day can it be harmful? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Perderabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Perderabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perderabo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/2 "2001-08-22T15:50:10Z")
Eating too much of _anything_ can be harmful. I’ve performed that experiment many times. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/3 "2001-08-22T16:09:57Z")
That’s because the statement “Too much X is bad for you” is tautological; too much of anything is bad for you; that’s precisely what “too much” means, it would be quite absurd to say “It’s bad for you to eat just the right amount of bananas” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/4 "2001-08-22T16:18:51Z")
But I would think that 10+ bananas is bordering on excessive - I doubt if the potassium will do you much harm, but that many bananas (or excessive amounts of any kind of fruit) may make your botty explode. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/5 "2001-08-22T16:28:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*But I would think that 10+ bananas is bordering on excessive - I doubt if the potassium will do you much harm, but that many bananas (or excessive amounts of any kind of fruit) may make your botty explode. :eek: \*\* And all this time I was worrying about my **booty** exploding. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/6 "2001-08-22T16:34:52Z")
My great-uncle-by-marriage liked to tell the story that when he was a kid he ate a dozen bananas while walking home from the store. He got sick, and the doctor told him he would have died if he hadn’t kept walking. I’m not sure what walking has to do with it. Maybe the old guy was just full of crap (literally and figuratively 😃 ). ---
**Author:** ![Opengrave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/919ad9/32.png) [@Opengrave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opengrave)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/7 "2001-08-22T16:42:10Z")
My cousin wanted to join the US Army but he was underweight for his height - the recruiter told him to eat banannas right before his physical exams. He ate **nine pounds** of banannas in less than 24 hours and he is just fine. He swears he will never eat another bananna as long as he lives though;). ---
**Author:** ![missdavis102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@missdavis102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missdavis102)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/8 "2001-08-22T16:47:47Z")
Potassium: K Recommended Daily Allowance for adults: 1600-2000 mg Sources: Whole grains, fruits, leafy vegetables Functions: Maintains ion balance of intracellular fluid, fluid balance, and acid-base balance Signs of deficiency: Hypokalemia (muscle cramps, weakness, iregular heartbeat) Signs of Excess: Hyperkalemia (irritability, anxiety, cardiac arrythmia, heart block) So presumably, you can get too much potassium. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/9 "2001-08-22T16:58:49Z")
i’ve eaten a dozen bananas a day for weeks on end…haven’t had a problem with eating too many bananas…ever. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/10 "2001-08-22T17:02:34Z")
Opengrave, My grandfather did the same thing to get into Annapolis. He ate a bunch of bananas to make sure he met the weight requirement. ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/11 "2001-08-22T18:20:45Z")
Back when I was in college, I lived in a co-op which often had groups of foriegn exchange students stay for a semester or two. On year, we got a group of Russian students. They ate bananas like it was nobody’s business. Like 6 or 7 for a snack. We thought this was weird, but they told us that where they were from, bananas were very hard to come by. Nothing out of the ordinary ever seemed to happen to them. [sub]But then again, they ate raw bacon, which may have counter-acted all the excess potassium.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/12 "2001-08-22T18:52:06Z")
Thank you, **missdavis** for actually providing something other than anecdotal evidence… ---
**Author:** ![bashere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bashere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bashere)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/13 "2001-08-22T18:52:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Recommended Daily Allowance for adults: 1600-2000 mg According the the chiquita web site, there is an average of 400mg of potassium per banana. Another site gave 451mg per banana. I couldn’t find an LD50 for bananas, but I did find this rather interesting site: [http://chemweb.calpoly.edu/chem/bailey/377/PapersF2000/AndrewT/](http://chemweb.calpoly.edu/chem/bailey/377/PapersF2000/AndrewT/) Check it out for a report on “POTASSIUM: The Unknown Evil”. ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/14 "2001-08-22T19:04:55Z")
[Apparently, 15 bananas is too much.]([http://icare4u.com/Nu0017.htm#How](http://icare4u.com/Nu0017.htm#How) much is too much potassium?) ---
**Author:** ![K3v1n](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@K3v1n](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K3v1n)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/15 "2001-08-22T22:32:26Z")
Not sure about anything else but I do know that eating too much would attract more Mosquitos… ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/16 "2001-08-22T23:34:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by K3v1n \* > \*\*Not sure about anything else but I do know that eating too much would attract more Mosquitos… \*\* Because…? They enjoy watching humans make pigs of themselves. More human food intake eventually means more skin surface area for the future generations. Gluttons release CO2 like nobodys business. You can’t swat a pesky mosquito while you’re peeling the banana. Bananas are filled with BLOOD!! ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/17 "2001-08-23T05:46:27Z")
If someone I knew was eating 10 bananas a day, I wouldn’t worry about him overdosing on potassium, I’d be worried that he was never going to have a natural BM again in this life :eek: ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/18 "2001-08-23T05:59:05Z")
During the fall, winter and spring, I eat bananas on my Wheaties. When Krogers starts getting in berries and peaches in during the summer, I am relieved because I have eaten **too many bananas**. So the answer is **YES**. ---
**Author:** ![K3v1n](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@K3v1n](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K3v1n)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-too-many-bananas/77558/19 "2001-08-23T10:00:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by K3v1n \* > > \*\*Not sure about anything else but I do know that eating too much would attract more Mosquitos… \*\* > > Because…?\*\* …mosquitoes are attracted to potassium. 🙂 I can’t find a cite, persay but I have found several references to it: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=78335](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=78335) [http://www.ci.valdez.ak.us/animal/tips.html](http://www.ci.valdez.ak.us/animal/tips.html) [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:tB4qVbHt6wI:www.greenbuilder.com/oasisgardenscsa/members.html+mosquitoes+bananas&hl=en](http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:tB4qVbHt6wI:www.greenbuilder.com/oasisgardenscsa/members.html+mosquitoes+bananas&hl=en) (site wouldn’t load, so there is the Google cache) Interestingly enough, I found this while searching for a cite for my above statement: [http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/blonz050100.asp](http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/blonz050100.asp)